DART Spacecraft Set To Impact Target In Under an Hour!

Written By: Josh G for Onkla

The DART Spacecraft will FINALLY be impacting its target after a 10 month journey. The spacecraft's journey began atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Space Launch Complex 4 East at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff was successful and the mission began.

Photo Credit: NASA / Photo: DART Launch Aboard A SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket

Now, after coasting for around 10 months, occaissionally firing its single ion engine, it is now on the final collision course with its target, Dimorphos. Dimorphos is a moon of Didymorphos which is a close flying object of Earth. The mission for DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) is to impact Dimorphos, and the redirect its path. This is so that if it was heading towards earth, it would be able to redirect the potentially dangerous asteroid out of the way so it doesn't impact our planet.

DART Spacecraft Render provided by NASA

Impact is scheduled for 7:14pm Eastern daylight time with the DART spacecraft travelling at 6.6km/s.